Andy Murray has already proved countless times that he has a flair for drama, so it was predictable that he would earn his first singles win in Davis Cup competition in the most eye-catching way. The 19-year-old Scot came from two sets down for the first time in his career yesterday to beat Andy Ram 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to rescue Great Britain from going 2-0 down in the Euro African Zone Group One tie against Israel.

Murray and Jamie Delgado will begin today's doubles with the teams level at one rubber apiece knowing that victory will put them ahead in the tie and begin to banish the possibility of Great Britain having to beat Ukraine away in September to avoid relegation to the Davis Cup boondocks.

"It was absolutely outstanding, one of the best Davis Cup comebacks I've ever seen," said Britain's captain Jeremy Bates. "I think Ram came out and surprised us a bit and it wasn't until the third set when Andy had a chance to break him. I think this win says a lot about his spirit and his determination. He has proved that he has given it absolutely everything. He's kept us very much in this tie."

Alex Bogdanovic had frozen in the opening rubber and lost 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 to Noam Okun, so when Murray went two sets down after an awful first set and an indifferent second Bates must have wondered why he had bothered bringing his team to Eastbourne at all.

The 3,000 or so who sweltered in the stands, meanwhile, were probably yearning for the beach a few hundred metres away. Jumping off the end of the pier might have seemed a more appealing option than staying to watch the end of what appeared to be inevitable defeat for Murray, but they were amply rewarded for their loyalty.

When Murray pulled a string of winners out of nowhere at 6-5 up on Ram's serve in the third set the crowd seized their moment to provide a noisy soundtrack to his comeback with an enthusiasm which belied Eastbourne's reputation as a genteel haven for the aged.

The Scot broke to take the match into a fourth set and it proved to be a pivotal moment, largely because Ram, who has an ATP world ranking of 662 in singles and is a doubles specialist, had never played a five-set match in singles before and was unable to cope with the physical demands of going the distance.

Murray, by contrast, became more energetic as the match went on. Early on he had been the listless, distracted, moaning Murray who lost to Marcos Baghdatis at Wimbledon, railing at photographers and huffing about the baseline in a fog of confusion and petulance. By the end he was the Murray that all the fuss has been made about, the feisty competitor who rises to the most challenging occasions. Age and experience should banish the former and allow the latter to shine more often.

Bogdanovic insisted that he played better yesterday than when he lost to Okun 16 months ago, the previous time Great Britain played Israel in Tel Aviv, but it scarcely mattered because the mental frailties were much the same. He did not play uniformly badly against Okun but the winners never came at crucial times and thus it was a performance which represented perfectly his Davis Cup career to date.

His only memorable turn while representing his country was a win over the doubles specialist Todd Woodbridge in a dead rubber at the end of Great Britain's January 2003 tie against Australia in Sydney, an utterly meaningless encounter interpreted by Davis Cup optimists as a sign that he had the necessary gumption to become a stalwart for his country. Subsequent events have shown that optimism to be entirely misplaced.

The occasional flashes of brilliance from Bogdanovic yesterday made his failings all the more frustrating, for there were moments when it was abundantly clear why he is ranked 122 places higher than Okun. It was equally apparent, though, why he has now suffered two Davis Cup humiliations at the Israeli's hands.

Okun may be a somewhat utilitarian player but the nuts and bolts of his game do not come apart at times of stress and, when it comes to team competition, that is a vital strength which Bogdanovic simply does not possess and perhaps never will. Murray, on the other hand, clearly has it in abundance.

Barring injury, Murray's name is already inked in against Okun in the first singles rubber, but Bates will be treading the fine line between bravery and stupidity if he retains Bogdanovic in the fifth and deciding rubber against Ram should the match still be alive. Bogdanovic mentioned a groin injury which might at least give his captain the option of giving him an honourable discharge tomorrow.

"I want to play," said Bogdanovic, but putting him in again would be a risk and Bates may feel the team's chances would be safer in the hands of either Alan Mackin or even Delgado.